Rally May Stall For Singapore Stock Market

The Singapore stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 25 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Straits Times Index now rests just above the 3,180-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on apprehension over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and industrials.

For the day, the index added 6.54 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 3,180.72 after trading between 3,174.96 and 3,197.00.

Among the actives, Ascendas REIT climbed 0.74 percent, while CapitaLand Investment soared 1.96 percent, City Developments advanced 0.60 percent, Comfort DelGro and SATS both strengthened 0.79 percent, DBS Group perked 0.03 percent, Hongkong Land spiked 1.44 percent, Keppel Corp gained 0.15 percent, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust sank 0.65 percent, Mapletree Industrial Trust improved 0.46 percent, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation collected 0.32 percent, Seatrium Limited surged 5.15 percent, Singapore Technologies Engineering fell 0.52 percent, SingTel rallied 0.86 percent, Thai Beverage tumbled 1.71 percent, Wilmar International added 0.28 percent, Yangzijiang Financial jumped 1.41 percent, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding lost 0.58 percent and Mapletree Logistics Trust, Emperador, Genting Singapore, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust, SembCorp Industries and Frasers Logistics were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but quickly turned lower and finished deep under water.

The Dow plunged 373.56 points or 1.08 percent to finish at 34,099.42, while the NASDAQ tumbled 257.06 points or 1.87 percent to close at 13,463.97 and the S&P 500 sank 59.70 points or 1.35 percent to end at 4,376.31.

The initial strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to Q2 results from chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which reported strong earnings and guidance after markets close on Wednesday.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, with concerns about the outlook for interest rates continuing to weigh on the markets ahead of the economic symposium later today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled more than expected in July. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday on expectations that Saudi Arabia will extend its production cut into the next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.16 or 0.2 percent at $79.05 a barrel.

Closer to home, Singapore will see July data for industrial production later today, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.5 percent on month and 3.8 percent on year. That follows the 5.0 percent monthly increase and the 4.9 percent yearly decline in June.